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Tom
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Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 10353
| Posted 2/10/2003 1:44 AM (GMT -6) |   | I was reading Luke 9 today and came upon vv. 44-45. Jesus heals a demon possessed boy and then turns to his disciples and says, “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands.” Verse 45 follows, “But they did not understand this saying. Its meaning was concealed from them, so that they could not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.”
The phrase “so that they could not perceive it” begins with the Greek particle “hina,” which may introduce either a clause of purpose or of result. If purpose, then Jesus’ meaning was concealed from the disciples “so that” or “in order that” they should not understand. If result, then Jesus’ meaning was hidden from them “with the result that” or simply “and” they did not understand.
I’m finding it difficult to understand Jesus’ call to the disciples to pay close attention to his saying (lit. “Let what I say sink into your ears”) if “hina” introduces a purpose clause, that is, if it’s true that his meaning is purposely hidden from them. Yet this appears to be the reading most English translations go with. It’s also plausible to understand the “hina” clause as simply giving the result of Jesus’ saying. Though Jesus intended his disciples to get his meaning, it went over their heads (so to speak), with the result that they didn’t get his meaning.
Thoughts?
Tom
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Semeia
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Date Joined Aug 2001
Total Posts : 522
| Posted 2/10/2003 4:39 AM (GMT -6) | | In Neuro-Linguistic Programming there is a concept called "paired learning" in which two events (or concepts) are connected through the use of an "anchor." I think that this passage shows Jesus "setting an anchor." He wants the disciples to pay close attention to his words because, even though they will not understand them now, he wants them to remember his words because in the future the meaning will become obvious.
The two events Jesus is connecting for the disciples are the healing of the demon possessed boy with his imminent betrayal into human hands. When Jesus is betrayed, he wants his disciples to do what is in NLP called a "trans-derivational search" - to remember all the things Jesus might have said about "betrayal" and in what context. When they do this, the anchor that Jesus has set connecting the healing of the boy to Jesus' own knowledge of his impending betrayal will now have meaning to them.
And what is the connection and the meaning of the two seemingly disparate events? Jesus wants his disciples to know that even though he is fully aware that humans will betray him (even unto death), that he willingly, in full view of that knowledge, continues to love and heal humanity. He wants them to have no doubt about his purpose (and ultimately their own purpose) to love and heal even in the face of man's sinfulness and betrayal even unto death.
So why doesn't Jesus just make that more explicit, and simply explain to them exactly what's going to happen and what they should think about it? My answer to that is that Jesus' understanding of human behavior led him to use the most powerful forms of communication at his disposal, and two thousand years later we continue to discover what he knew so long ago: that human beings for the most part have to be "tricked into knowledge", and that the most powerful thinking happens in the 95 percent of our thought that is unconscious. Stories, parables, and anchors (all favorites of Jesus) all influence mostly on the subconscious level. Since it is our subconscious thought that controls most of our behavior, deep, longlasting change can only happen at that level.
One of the most powerful, successful therapists of our time was Milton Erickson, who used a form of hypnotism made up almost entirely of stories and anchors to cure people by changing their unconscious belief systems. (Neuro-linguistic Programming came into being because of several people - Bandler and Grinder - who studied the most successful therapists of our time - Milton Erickson being one of them - to find out what they had in common, because on the surface they all appeared to use very different techniques. It turns out that there are certain underlying truths about thinking and behavior that they all tapped into. Doc's TNT is based on this same body of research adapted with a Biblical grounding.) Milton Erickson could cure people of lifelong afflictions often in a single conversation in which he "set an anchor" for a more positive behavior. (Sometimes an anchor is a "touch" like a handshake, or a pat on the shoulder, while the new "thought pattern" is being installed. Other times it is a phrase or combination of words and touch. The words, "let these words sink into your ears" and "let those who have ears to hear" may very well be anchors in themselves, that Jesus set in place to trigger certain important paired learning.)
Jesus' teaching is made up almost entirely of stories, parables, and demonstration through action (miracles). It turns out that this is how human beings learn and change most effectively. The most powerful teachers are those who teach through stories (and not the obvious hit-you-over-the-head-with-a-baseball-bat type stories, but the subtle ones) and through their own actions. Religion would look very different if preachers the world over understood this.
In this light it is easier to understand how "hina" could mean purpose. Jesus did not want them to get the full meaning now, as it was happening, because he knew that it would not have the impact on the disciples he wanted - because they would be too caught up in resisting the idea of his betrayal, and therefore could never receive the profound truth of love in the face of death. What Jesus wanted was to set an anchor for later, so that when the disciples had viscerally experienced the truth of his betrayal, sacrifice, death, and resurrection, they would think back on this event, and the impact and meaning of Jesus' action would be clear to them. He effectively paired for them his ministry of healing with his knowledge of his own betrayal, so that they could never question the depth of his acts of love, and the subsequent meaning they should hold to show God's great love for humanity. God doesn't love us with the naive hope that we will be good. God loves us even when he knows we will murder him.
Jesus forever anchored that message into human consciousness on the cross of Calvary. Throughout his ministry he similarly anchored profound truths to "trick" people into knowledge by undermining the patterns of the world. If he had simply "told" the disciples in a straightforward way what was happening and why, they could never have understood. So he made sure that they would make the connection later by instantiating an anchor that would be triggered by his betrayal, at which point they would understand, and be forever changed.
I am not a biblical scholar, though. That's just my reading as a layperson, for whatever it's worth.
Thanks,
Semeia
"The opposite of sin is not virtue, but faith."--Soren Kierkegaard | | Back to Top | | |
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BJS
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Date Joined Dec 2001
Total Posts : 587
| Posted 2/10/2003 4:53 AM (GMT -6) | | Excellent analysis, Semeia. Thanks.
Brett
"Siste viator et memento mori." | | Back to Top | | |
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Tom
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Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 10353
| Posted 2/10/2003 5:41 AM (GMT -6) | | Well, I sure wish churches were full of laypersons as simple and unread as you!  Excellent and very helpful Semeia. Good stuff. I'm dwelling on it.
Thanks,
Bubba 
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fyodor
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Total Posts : 179
| Posted 2/10/2003 6:37 AM (GMT -6) | | Wow. My feet are cold because you knocked my socks off Semeia.
That's a well put together arguement.
I think its important to note where the narrative is at Luke 9:44 as well. The disciples still think Jesus is the earthly king of Israel, not the etenal king of life. They're dumbfounded by the statement. The following verses describe the disciples as arguing over which of them was the greatest, which one will be Jesus' right hand man when he's king. Their cluelessness leads me as the reader to believe that the statement would be a clause of purpose. Jesus seems to leave the diciples with enough information so that they will understand forthcoming events as Semeia points out, but not enough to blow his cover.
He also maintains a contradiction in his character between an earthly king and an eternal king. An earthly king would not be so hidden in his character as to speak without the understanding of those around him. Rather he would simply speak in decree. "I'm telling you this, but you won't understand it." He is going to be betrayed into human hands in order to contradict everything they know about what a Messiah is suppossed to be.
†††"To have a self, to be a self, is the greatest concession, an infinite concession, given to man, but it is also eternity's claim upon him." – S. Kierkegaard
Edited by - fyodor on 02/10/2003 11:41:07 AM | | Back to Top | | |
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Tom
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Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 10353
| Posted 2/10/2003 6:44 AM (GMT -6) | | Now there are three women I worship: My wife, Springs, and Semeia. Hey, there's a threesome for Doc!
Tom
Love never ends
Edited by - TGB on 02/10/2003 11:45:36 AM | | Back to Top | | |
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Semeia
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Date Joined Aug 2001
Total Posts : 522
| Posted 2/10/2003 6:35 PM (GMT -6) | | Thank you Brett, Tom and Fyodor! I relapsed this morning from my sabbatical from the board, but with all those nice comments I'm in danger of falling completely off the wagon. Don't tempt me, though - I'm an addict who needs to go cold turkey for a while. (How's that for a string of hackneyed mixed metaphors?)
Fyodor, I liked how you put this: "He is going to be betrayed into human hands in order to contradict everything they know about what a Messiah is supposed to be."
Tom said:
Now there are three women I worship: My wife, Springs, and Semeia. Hey, there's a threesome for Doc!
Semeia:
You might want to rephrase that. When Doc's critics hear that he's into "threesomes" he might get kicked out of a whole new slew of organizations to which he doesn't even belong!
But thanks for the compliment! Now go apologize to your wife.
Thanks,
Semeia
"The opposite of sin is not virtue, but faith."--Soren Kierkegaard | | Back to Top | | |
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Springs
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Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 636
| Posted 2/11/2003 10:01 AM (GMT -6) | | Without any motivation for the purpose of temptation Semeia,
Welcome Back! Wonderful post. I think you and Fyodor are right, he wanted them to remember it, even if they didn't understand it yet.
Mark 9:31 adds to Jesus' comments, which ties in the political aspect of rising to power, "because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise."
Tom! Ha! Doh! It's Threeness or 'group of three' not threesome!
Does putting your foot in your mouth come in threes for you too?
Otherwise, worship is good. I love when that happens. Ha. Plus, I'm ranked somewhere between a saint, and a hell raiser. Even better.
Back acha fellah,
Your piece on Ascol's work and your posts to the Rickster on God's knowledge were excellent. Love the line, "I am inclined to question the sort of divine perfection of a maximally personal God who is emotionally unchanging with respect to events of our world."
Three cheers for Tom,
Springs
What is it of Eve in you? It is in us all! -SS
Edited by - Springs on 02/11/2003 3:03:40 PM | | Back to Top | | |
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BBBCanada
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Date Joined Jun 2001
Total Posts : 2763
| Posted 2/11/2003 11:11 AM (GMT -6) | | Threesomes??? Can I join? I mean threeness or 'group of three'...whatevuuuur...
I have never had a problem with Jesus leaving people "in the dark" as to his identity or as Semeia says, "Jesus did not want them to get the full meaning now, as it was happening, because he knew that it would not have the impact on the disciples he wanted..."
God has some real amazing ways of revealing Himself throughout scripture that are rather unconventional to the ways we might think He should be God. And it seems to me that this is very similar to old adage, "Some things are better caught then taught." Actually, the quote below my name may fall into that category as well. Good stuff Semeia.
Brandon
"Truth is so obscured nowadays and lies so well established that unless we love the truth we shall never recognize it."--Todd Flanders/ Pascal: Talkin' 'bout My Generation
Edited by - BBBCanada on 02/11/2003 4:14:06 PM | | Back to Top | | |
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Tom
Registered Member
Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 10353
| Posted 2/11/2003 12:17 PM (GMT -6) | | Springs: Tom! Ha! Doh! It's Threeness or 'group of three' not threesome!
Tom: It never crossed my mind! Hey, to the pure...
Springs: Does putting your foot in your mouth come in threes for you too?
Tom: Only if it's a BIGFOOT!
Tom
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Springs
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Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 636
| Posted 2/11/2003 6:14 PM (GMT -6) | | Tom, God bless every sweet innocent bone in your body!
Big Foot Lives!
Thy love did read by rote and could not spell. - Friar Laurence. - Shakespeare | | Back to Top | | |
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